One of the questions I have been asked is what are some of the best things about being in Tanzania. I have written about the sky. But, the kids here really are great. Probably true everywhere.
After a usual day of frustration I could hear from my house that the kids at Nkwarungu Lutheran Parish English Medium School were out playing so I picked up a Frisbee and went over. They had seen me a lot going by, but never met me…well, about 10 first graders just kind of swarmed me and tried to throw the frisbee for the first time. It was mayhem. Then we went through the names, and then we did colors in English. I was sitting on a low wall and they seemed to take turns hanging on me. After a bit I realized they were touching my hair, and then the hair on my arms. One of them whispered to another “manyoya” Swahili for fur or feathers. It was clearly their first opportunity to examine a white specimen close up…and as young kids they were not at all self-conscience or worried about if this were polite or politically correct to do. I though how interested I would have been, growing up in white white Utah to get a close look at a black guy when I was a kid. It made my day (maybe week) The kids were just kids. Race, economic station, language, all will have an impact in time, but not much at this age.